FALCONS REBOUND VS. MAVERICKS
Held hitless Tuesday, the Torrey Pines High baseball team was determined to make a statement Thursday.
Especially with first place in the North County Coastal League, which boasts four Top-10 teams, and a spot in the Open Division playoffs riding on every pitch.
The Falcons scratched out five hits, scored a pair of runs in the sixth inning, and squeaked out a 5-4 win over La Costa Canyon.
The victory keeps the No. 4-ranked Falcons (17-9, 9-4) atop the league race with No. 5 Rancho Bernardo (18-8, 9-4) while No. 7 La Costa Canyon (16-9, 6-6) missed a chance to control its fate.
Torrey Pines and LCC play again Saturday. The Falcons finish the regular season Tuesday against
Carlsbad.
LCC plays Torrey Pines, Rancho Bernardo and San Marcos down the stretch.
As important as a league title is, Torrey Pines is the eighth seed in the eightteam Open Division.
The Falcons check in at 44.80 points, while No. 7 Madison is at 44.83 and No. 6 LCC is at 45.04. Helix is No. 9 at 44.76 points, which means the top seed in Division I.
“No question, we want to play in the Open Division,” said Torrey Pines DH Eric
Van Valkenburg, who doubled home the winning runs in the sixth.
“I was the pitcher Tuesday and didn’t have my best game. So I had a little something riding on that last atbat. The bases were loaded, so I knew he had to throw a strike. They had been throwing fastballs down and away all game, so that’s where I was looking. But they got a pitch up and I got it.
“This game was huge for both teams . ... We want to play in the Open Division playoffs. Division I is ninth place.”
LCC’s Gabe Camacho threw three perfect innings Tuesday against Torrey Pines and Ron Chutke followed with four no-hit innings, issuing only a walk.
Stunner Gonzalez set the Falcons down in order in the first inning Thursday to stretch the no-hit streak to eight innings, but Junior Barajas opened the second with a home run, ending Torrey Pines’ hitless drought.
He also had a double and single and scored three runs.
“Tuesday was tough,” Barajas said. “I wasn’t looking to hit a home run there, but we needed something to get us going.”
LCC scored two in the first and led 3-1 in the fourth before Torrey Pines tied it in the bottom of the inning.
LCC took the lead in the fifth on Hayden Kline’s sacrifice fly, but Torrey Pines used a walk to Cody Wilson, a single by Barajas and a walk to AJ Guiliano to load the bases in the bottom of the sixth. That set the stage for Van Valkenburg.
Montgomery 6, Eastlake Adrian Herrera threw a complete-game no-hitter for the Aztecs. He walked three and struck out nine, giving Montgomery the Mesa League championship. Jose Mendoza had a two-run homer for the Aztecs (19-6, 9-3).